This invention relates to respirators, and, more particularly, to respirators that are particularly well adapted for use by persons suffering from emphysema, and the like.
It is a primary object of the present invention to afford a novel respirator.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel respirator which is effective to vibrate the material passing therethrough in such a manner that it is effective to vibrate the cilia in the lungs of the person breathing through the respirator.
A further object is to afford a novel respirator which is effective to so vibrate the material passing therethrough both on inhalation and exhalation.
Respirators, which are effective to vibrate material passing therethrough during both inhalation and exhalation, have been heretofore known in the art, being disclosed, for example, in my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,054,134 and 4,062,358. Respirators of the type disclosed in my aforementioned patents have proven to be very effective. However, it is an object of the present invention to afford improvements over respirators of the type disclosed in the aforementioned patents.
Many persons suffer from ailments, such as, for example, emphysema, or the like, wherein the cilia in the lungs have been flattened down or clogged with mucus, or the like. It is my opinion, which seems to have been borne out by experimentation, that vibration of the air passing into and out of the lungs of a person suffering from the aforementioned conditions is effective to cause cilia, which have been flattened down, to be vibrated into an upstanding position, and to cause cilia which have been clogged with mucus, to be at least partially unclogged. When oxygen being breathed by such a person is vibrated in accordance with my present invention, and in accordance with the teachings of my earlier aforementioned patents, better utilization of the oxygen seems to be effected than when it is not so vibrated.
When respirators of the type disclosed in my aforementioned patents are being used, inhalation therethrough is accomplished by the person using the respirator opening his lungs and allowing the material being inhaled (such as, for example, air or a mixture of air and oxygen) to fill the same. Also, that is true with respect to the initial inhalation, when using a respirator of the type disclosed herein. However, it is my opinion, which seems to be borne out by experimentation, that when, after the aforementioned initial inhalation, when positive pressure is applied to the material being inhaled, the lungs are further open or expanded with the result that the material being vibrated reaches into areas of the lungs not otherwise reached. It is an important object of the present invention to afford a novel respirator by which positive pressure may be applied, in a novel and expeditious manner, to material being inhaled into the lungs of a person using the respirator.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel respirator of the aforementioned type wherein the positive pressure applied to the lungs of the person using the same may be readily and effectively controlled by that person.
Machines or attachments, such as, for example, machines or attachments sold by Puritan-Bennett Corporation for use in hospitals, and the like, and which attachments are to be secured to a hospital wall or to an oxygen bottle, or the like, and are effective to apply positive pressure to the lungs of a patient being treated therewith, have been heretofore known in the art. Machines or attachments of the aforementioned type have proven to be effective. However, it is an object of the present invention to afford improvements over such machines or attachments.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel respirator of the aforementioned positive pressure type which is readily portable.
An object ancillary thereto is to afford a novel respirator of the aforementioned type which is self-contained.
A further object of the present invention is to afford a novel respirator of the aforementioned positive pressure type which may be readily held in the hand of the person using the same.
A further object of the present invention is to afford a novel respirator of the aforementioned type, which is practical and efficient in operation and which may be readily and economically produced commercially.
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show the preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.